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Karzai again urges end to US air strikes
 [Iran Press TV Latest] The Afghan president asks the United States to end air strikes blamed for the death of around 130 civilians this week in Farah province. Hamid Karzai talking to CNN of Friday said that air strikes in Bala Bulak district in western Afghanistan by US planes 'are not acceptable'. Karzai was in Washington for three-way talks with President Barack Obama and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on stepping up the fight against Taliban insurgents. Dismissing talk that the insurgents could have been to blame, Karzai said that US air strikes were 'definitely' the cause for the deaths of the civilians this week in western Afghanistan. He said he strongly believes that air strikes 'are not an effective way of fighting terrorism' and that air strikes cause civilian casualties, which does no good either for the US or for Afghanistan. He said, investigating teams from both the US and Afghanistan are examining a police report which said that nearly 125 to 130 people were killed - about 25 to 30 of them insurgents and the remainder civilians, including elderly people and children - 'and it was done by the bombing'. Karzai dismissed the US military report that said the toll was 'grossly exaggerated', although they did not immediately release their own toll. Posted by: Fred 2009-05-09 |
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